Introduction

SHARING FREE LEARNING OBJECTS

The main motivation in favour of using Learning Objects is reusability.

A Learning Object covered by copyright -- “all rights reserved” -- can be reused from a technical point of view, but legally it is only reusable by the copyright owner himself.


A free/open Learning Object is a LO with a licence which allows the material to be used freely, to be changed and to be distributed.

INTRODUCTION

The theme

A free/open Learning Object is a LO with a licence which instead of imposing “all rights reserved” enables the object to be used, changed and distributed by others. However, there are some limitations such as you are obliged to mention the original author and maintain the same licence on products which are derived from the original.

The objectives

At the end of this LO you should be able to:
- identify the fundamental principles of free/open LOs, derived from the free/open source software movement;
- describe relevant initiatives in the field of open content;
- explain the essential aspects of the copyleft licence;
- choose which licence you want to issue your contents under.

How organised

- Introduction (2 web pages)
- Content for e-learning: a critical element (3 web pages)
- The Free/Open Source Software model (10 web pages)
- Initiatives in Open Content (3 web pages)
- Copyleft licences for Contents (9 web pages)
- Conclusions (1 web pages)
- Self - evaluation test (6 multiple-choice questions)
- Biblio & sitegraphy

The duration

About 30 minutes